Comparative Study of Education Marginalization in Kenya and Norway (Term Paper Sample)

Comparative Study of Education Marginalization in Kenya and Norway
Name of Student
Institution Affiliation
Executive Summary
Educational marginalization is a global concept that has been discussed in numerous forums for decades. There has never a universal agreement as to what countries should do to eradicate this seemingly persistent issue. International law recognizes education as one of the fundamental human rights that national governments should provide to their citizens. However, such is never the case in most nations as some of them lack this critical provision in their respective constitutions. These points to a deficit that leads to the increased marginalization of select groups, regions, and individuals. However, there are specific countries have made substantial developments in the field of providing education for all regardless of physical, emotional, or psychological conditions of an individual. Norway has made significant improvements in this field since it abolished special schools in 1992. Before that, Norway had both special and regular schools. The stakeholders in the education sector saw the need to combine both and have a single system that could guarantee inclusion and fairness for all students. Kenya, on the hand, faces numerous challenges in its education sector, especially in specific regions. For instance, the Northeastern part of Kenya experiences a myriad of issues as the area itself has been segregated for decades. Children with disabilities from this region face significant challenges as the schools are underdeveloped, and the teachers are not equipped to address their special needs. This paper seeks to discuss the issue of education marginalization from a broad context before narrowing down to children with disabilities in both Kenya and Norway. Specialized attention will be given to understanding the challenges Kenya faces and the development strides that made Norway one of the European countries to achieve education for all.
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc40192310 \h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc40192311 \h 4Educational Marginalization PAGEREF _Toc40192312 \h 4Quantifying Marginalization in Education PAGEREF _Toc40192313 \h 5Understanding Deprivation and Marginalization PAGEREF _Toc40192314 \h 6Education Poverty PAGEREF _Toc40192315 \h 7Time Spent in Education PAGEREF _Toc40192316 \h 7Quality of Education PAGEREF _Toc40192317 \h 7Global Scale of Marginalization PAGEREF _Toc40192318 \h 8The marginalization of People with Disabilities PAGEREF _Toc40192319 \h 12The right to Education for People with Disabilities PAGEREF _Toc40192320 \h 13Education Marginalization in Kenya PAGEREF _Toc40192321 \h 14Reasons for Education Marginalization of Northeastern Kenya PAGEREF _Toc40192322 \h 14Sociocultural and Traditional Practices PAGEREF _Toc40192323 \h 15Resource Deprivation and Poverty PAGEREF _Toc40192324 \h 15Sociopolitical Factors and Education Marginalization PAGEREF _Toc40192325 \h 16Education Marginalization in Norway PAGEREF _Toc40192326 \h 17Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc40192327 \h 21References PAGEREF _Toc40192328 \h 21
Comparative Study of Education Marginalization in Kenya and Norway
Introduction
Globally, education is a universal human right that is heavily bound by shared principles of non-discrimination and equality. Education is highly recognized in both regional and international legal instruments such as the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education and Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), among others. However, this fundamental right is currently being denied to millions of children around the world. As of 2018, more than 268 million children and adolescents globally never went to school or had dropped out. Available data suggest that regardless of the gains in enrollment in primary school, most children are increasingly facing the challenge of developing basic numeracy and literacy skills. This trend is visible even though these children spend several years in school. Shockingly, women and girls form two-thirds of the world's most illiterate population. They also constitute a significant percentage of those out of school. Such a trend positions gender as a vital dimension of education marginalization. Of the number of women and girls mentioned earlier, those living in low-income families, especially in the rural areas are less likely to complete school. This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of marginalization in education with a much more focus on two different countries, Kenya and Norway.
Educational Marginalization
According to UNESCO’s Education for All, Global Monitoring Report 2010, educational marginalization is defined as a form of persistent and acute disadvantage that is deeply rooted in the major underlying social inequalities (Parish, 2015). Despite numerous measures by international organizations such as UNESCO to address this challenge, marginalization in education remains a largely unexplored concept that has experienced little focus on defining or conceptualizing it in the critical contexts of GEC (Yang, 2013). Significant literature is found in different topics such as gender, inequality, single marginalized groups, and inclusive education. Such areas build a broad picture of the regions and timelines when marginalization exists by mainly focusing on global statistics of the out-of-school population. They also study the prevalent inequalities between different groups across the features of gender and age. Nonetheless, existent gaps in the diagnosis of marginalization in education remain evident in most countries (Parish, 2015). What is more, such issues stretch beyond gender, age, or the exclusion process from schooling.
The relationship between marginalization and education is deeply rooted in a country's political landscape. This is mainly because reaching the marginalized children, especially those with disabilities must require political commitment which will be backed by practical policies. Governments across the world continue to recognize the dire need of overcoming extreme inequalities that hold back progress in the field of education (Yang, 2013). For example, the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien saw the countries present make a declaration that sought to increase consistent measures to reduce prevalent education disparities among their citizens. They all agreed to a collective approach and active commitment to reach a majority of the underserved group such as the poor, refugees, racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities, as well as the migrants (Goodley, 2013). Through this, many countries made impressive efforts towards expanding educational opportunities to the marginalized groups. As previously noted, marginalization in education remains a peripheral concern. The primary assumption has been that national progress in education would reach the disadvantaged communities through the trickle-down effect. After years of steady but highly uneven national growth, different approaches must be adopted to address the common challenges affecting most countries with regards to the attainment of educational uniformity (Yang, 2013).
Quantifying Marginalization in Education
All countries, the level of development notwithstanding, there are some groups and individuals that experience persistent disadvantages in education. Such differences set them apart from the larger society (Parish, 2015). According to available reports, such individuals are less likely to enrol in schools, begin schooling at the right age, or to complete a full cycle of education. What is more, such groups and individuals are more likely to drop out of school or even if they finish, they leave with low levels of achievement. Children with disabilities are account for the highest number of these groups and individuals that are mostly segregated (Donnelly, 2016). Although a sign of social deprivation, the disadvantage in education is both a cause and an effect of marginalization that is portrayed in other areas (Yang, 2013). It is also a powerful transmitter of denial across various generations. In understanding the measurement of education marginalization across the world, it is essential to define the different groups and individuals that are marginalized. It is important to note that represent the marginalized persons is mainly problematic as there is seldom an agreed definition of such terms within a country setup. At the same time, understanding the meaning of what marginalization comprises in education presents a unique set of challenges (Goodley, 2013).
Virtually, the majority accept marginalization by understanding its critical underpinnings based on the number of years spent in school or the level of educational attainment. Most countries seek to incorporate educational systems that lead to the development of a child's personality, mental and physical abilities, and talents, as these are the, have been noted to contribute to an individual's exploitation of full potential. For most children with disabilities, marginalization experiences undermine their learning potential, lead to stigmatization, and greatly disempower them (Donnelly, 2016). Although all countries around the world embrace the tenets of equal opportunities for education, some people tend to exhibit more rights than others. This means that the marginalized groups or individuals are the least equal (Yang, 2013). Notably, inequalities that are directly linked to parental income, ethnicity, gender, and race, among other factors, continue to restrict the life chances further increasing marginalization. Markedly, understanding this issue of marginalization education is a prerequisite to overcoming it wholesomely. Most governments tend to express their commitment to equ...